


Flicker

by INMH



Series: after the evacuation (pacifist ending) [18]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Family, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-18 16:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15489606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: A cold night in Canada.





	Flicker

The power went out in the afternoon.  
  
Kara and Luther had started at the sudden darkness, and Alice had dropped her crayon onto the floor. The small cottage they lived in was fairly rural, and though the power had flickered consistently throughout the winter thus far, it had been built to withstand weather and had not gone out.  
  
Kara had turned to Luther in the dark. “Aren’t we out of fuel for the generator?”  
  
Luther made a face. “Yup.”  
  
“Alright.” Kara stepped forward and touched the side of Alice’s head, tapping at the controls for her ability to feel cold. YK500s felt cold on the same level that a human did; deactivating it meant she would feel it the way an android did, registering the temperature but not becoming uncomfortable as easily.  
  
“I’ll go tomorrow,” Luther said apologetically.  
  
“Only if the snow’s not too bad,” Kara said, peeling back the curtain and looking out at the snow, which was falling more heavily now. “I don’t want you getting stuck out there and ending up frozen like Jerry.”  
  
Luther smiled. “I think I’m a little hardier than the Jerrys,” He said, “But alright.”  
  
The day wound on, the darkness becoming more pronounced until the light disappeared completely. Kara pulled a few emergency candles that Rose had given her out of the cabinets and set them up around the little house. It kept them from bumping into things, as well as each other, but it didn’t do much to keep them warm, and eventually the cold became noticeable even on an android’s level.  
  
“Kara, I’m cold.” Alice mumbled from the window seat in the kitchen, curling in on herself.  
  
Kara nodded, hands rubbing up and down her arms. She was starting to feel it too. Luther probably was as well, though he hadn’t mentioned it. “It’s time for bed anyway,” She said, “It should be warmer there.”  
  
They all shared a room, a small bed lining each wall. Kara pulled them to the center of the room, laid them side-by-side, and enlisted Luther to help her pull the sheets off and secure them over the three beds together. Fortunately, androids didn’t move too much while powered-down, and so the odds of them pushing the beds apart in their sleep was slimmer than it might have been if they were human.  
  
Alice came out in her sleepwear, a long sweater layered over it for the night. Her eyes lit up when she saw the beds pushed together. “Are we all sleeping together tonight?”  
  
Kara smiled. “Indeed we are,” She confirmed, “It’ll be a good way to stay warm until morning.”  
  
She changed into a t-shirt and sleep-pants, and Luther did the same. Alice got in first, and then Kara, and then Luther, with Kara in the middle. “Did you want the middle, Alice? It’s probably warmer.”  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Alice said, burrowing into the blankets, “I’m good here.”  
  
“Alright.” Kara started slightly when Luther put an arm around her. He blinked back at her calmly when she met his eyes.  
  
“Is this okay?”  
  
Kara’s mouth hung open for a fraction of a moment, and then she recovered. “Yes, yes, that’s fine.”  
  
“Goodnight Kara, goodnight Luther,” Alice said, oblivious to what was going on behind her.  
  
“Goodnight Alice,” Kara kissed her head, and Luther leaned over her to kiss Alice as well. Within a few seconds, Alice was in low-power mode, and Kara and Luther were still awake. For a moment they were both quiet; Kara was uncertain as to what she should say, distracted by Luther’s arm around her waist and wanting to be sure Alice was fully powered-down before speaking.  
  
“Sorry about the fuel,” Luther rumbled behind her.  
  
“It’s fine, really,” Kara assured him, gently patting his arm. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll live.” After a tense moment, after making sure one more time that Alice was asleep, she slowly, carefully rolled over so that she was facing Luther. His arm stayed where it was, and being face-to-face like this was not as uncomfortable for her as maybe it should have been. “Luther.”  
  
“Kara.”  
  
“Do you think we should go back to Detroit?”  
  
Luther was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. Canada’s been good to us so far.”  
  
“It hasn’t been _bad_ to us so far,” Kara whispered. “There’s a difference.”  
  
They’d mostly been in seclusion since getting to Ontario, keeping to themselves and only going into town when they needed to. Luther had done a few odd jobs that got them what they needed, and he made a point of not interacting with anyone anymore than he had to. Androids had no official status as far as citizenship went in Canada, and unlike the United States, which had recently passed some new emergency laws regarding android rights and personhood, they were not necessarily considered _people_ yet, legally speaking. And judging from the influx of androids fleeing north from the US, fleeing Cyberlife and the authorities, Canadian popular opinion towards them had been souring.  
  
_They’ll take our jobs._  
  
_They’ll destroy our economy_.  
  
_They’ll attack us_  
  
_They’ll cause trouble._  
  
_They’ll **be** trouble._  
  
They heard it all from a distance, tucked away from it all- for now, at least. But Kara was worried for the day when someone started asking about Alice, started asking about why she wasn’t in school, or why she didn’t eat, or maybe started realizing that Alice looked like a standard YK500. Logistically, they couldn’t stay in this little house for more than two or three years max, because eventually someone might notice that Alice wasn’t aging the way she should have.  
  
“Markus has gotten us some rights,” Kara said. “He’s made things better.”  
  
“But not perfect.”  
  
“It’ll never be perfect.”  
  
“We’re safer here than there.”  
  
“For now. But what happens when someone realizes that Alice isn’t aging? What happens when you get hurt on a job and they see you bleeding blue? America may not be perfect, but at least they’re making progress. We’re allowed to exist as deviants now, get jobs, and file reports with the police if we’re attacked. Canada doesn’t even officially have androids, and public opinion isn’t very positive towards us. They don’t want us and the complex problems we’re bringing with us.”  
  
Luther sighed. Kara knew he didn’t like the idea of going back to the US, probably because there’d be far too many humans with guns there waiting for them. But the Canadian police and military had guns too, and they would be the ones coming for them if they were caught. “You’re not wrong.”  
  
“If we’re caught, we’ll be deported anyway.”  
  
Kara felt his arm tighten around her. “You’re not wrong about that either.”  
  
“I’m just trying to think ahead. At least in Detroit we’ll have other androids to go to for help, people that will understand. Here we only have Rose, Blake, and Adam to consistently rely on, and technically we’re all breaking the law by being here: Us by traveling to Canada as androids, doubly-so because we had false passports claiming we were human, and Rose and her family by knowing we’re here and aiding and abetting us.”  
  
“You really have thought about this.”  
  
“Haven’t you?”  
  
“Sometimes. Mostly I try to be happy with the peace while we’ve got it. I know it won’t last; never does.”  
  
He was right. Happiness came, and then dipped towards anxiety when the fears and realities of the world intruded upon them again, and then they found a reason, a way to be happy again, only for the cycle to start all over. Kara wasn’t naïve, she knew happiness couldn’t last forever, knew that bad times came and went- that was just life. But there were the occasional bad days, and then there was the fear of being assaulted or arrested because one’s community found out that one was made of metal, plastic, and wires instead of flesh and blood.  
  
Come to think of it, at this point, deportation might not be so bad.  
  
At least they’d know what to expect in America; they didn’t know what the Canadian authorities would do with them.  
  
Kara remembered stories of the recycling machines in the recall camps, the ones they’d seen on the news, and shuddered.  
  
Luther shifted, now getting both arms around Kara, pulling her close to his chest. Kara felt her heart race a little, and she blushed about as much as an android was capable of blushing. Unconventional as their home was, they weren’t big on labels, but she had yet to come up with something definitive to describe this odd relationship she had with Luther. More and more frequently, his interactions with her had taken on a level of intimacy that she suspected was romantic.  
  
For all the bravery Kara had been forced to show in Detroit, she was too frightened to ask Luther’s intentions. Whatever they had with each other, it was good, and she didn’t want to make it awkward. She didn’t want to ruin it.  
  
“We can talk about it later,” Luther said, and with her cheek pressed to his chest she could feel him speak as well as hear him.  
  
“Okay,” Kara mumbled.  
  
Right before she powered-down, she felt Luther press a kiss to the top of her head.  
  
_You too,_ she thought.  
   
-End


End file.
